Christie’s to sell teenager’s NFT art about gender transition
LONDON — Christie’s is to auction artwork by 18-year-old trans artist FEWOCiOUS in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) it said on Monday, as the world’s major auction houses ramp up their sales of NFTs. An NFT is a form of crypto asset, which records ownership of a digital object such as an image, video, or text. While anyone can view the item, only the buyer of an NFT has the official status of being the owner. FEWOCiOUS — real name Victor Langlois — has five lots going on sale with each one representing a year of his life as he discovered his gender identity between the ages of 14 and 18. They will be sold at Christie’s from June 23-30, in an online auction called “Hello, I’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life,” which coincides with Pride month. Each lot consists of a video artwork which exists in digital form only, sold as an NFT, a set of doodles, drawings, and journal entries from the corresponding year in both physical and NFT form, as well as a physical-only painting. FEWOCiOUS, who first started making art aged 13, said digital art was a refuge and escape from his conservative household where he had to hide his true self. His NFT sales to date have fetched more than $18 million, Christie’s said. He sold his first NFT in 2020 for just $1,000. NFT sales gave FEWOCiOUS the funds to move out of his childhood home in Las Vegas, he said. He now lives in Seattle. — Reuters
